How the professional practice of policing changed to address the issue of homelessness in our current time
Reading: Contested Development: Homeless Property, Police Reform, and Resistance in Skid Row, LA
Reading: The Safer Cities Initiative and the Removal of the Homeless: Reducing Crime or Promoting Gentrification on Los Angeles' Skid Row?
Consider what the Los Angeles Police Department has done in the past to address this issue and what it is doing now. Also, consider how community policing may have affected this. Use the rubric criteria listed below as headings to format your writing.
Community Policing: Principles
Describe the principles of community policing.
Community Policing: Valuable Approach
Explain how community policing is a valuable approach for today’s problems.
Community Policing: Homelessness in LA
Explain how community policing concepts and principles can be applied to the issues surrounding homelessness in LA.
Professional Practice of Policing: Tactics
Describe specific tactics the LAPD has used in the past to address the issue of homelessness.
Professional Practice of Policing: Strategy
Explain what strategy of policing the tactics illustrate.
Specifically, the following rubric criteria must be addressed:
-Describe the principles of community policing.
-Explain how community policing is a valuable approach for today’s problems.
-Explain how community policing concepts and principles can be applied to the issues surrounding homelessness in LA.
-Describe specific tactics the LAPD has used in the past to address the issue of homelessness.
-Explain what strategy of policing the tactics show.
Full Answer Section
Community Policing: Valuable Approach for Today’s Problems
Community policing is a valuable approach for today's problems because it is based on the premise that the police and the community are partners in working to create safe and healthy neighborhoods. In today's complex and rapidly changing world, the police cannot effectively address crime and public safety issues without the cooperation and support of the community.
Community policing also has a number of other benefits, including:
- Increased trust and legitimacy: Community policing can help to increase trust and legitimacy between the police and the community. This is important because trust is essential for the police to be effective in their work.
- Reduced crime: Community policing has been shown to reduce crime in a variety of communities. This is because community policing focuses on addressing the root causes of crime, rather than simply reacting to crime after it has occurred.
- Improved quality of life: Community policing can help to improve the quality of life in a community by making it safer and more livable. This is because community policing focuses on solving problems that are important to the community, such as crime, blight, and drug use.
Community Policing: Homelessness in LA
Community policing concepts and principles can be applied to the issues surrounding homelessness in LA in a number of ways. For example, the police can work with community members and stakeholders to identify the root causes of homelessness in their community and to develop strategies to address these problems. The police can also work with community members and stakeholders to develop programs and services to help homeless people get back on their feet.
In addition, the police can work to build relationships with homeless people and to treat them with respect and dignity. This can help to reduce the stigma associated with homelessness and to encourage homeless people to seek help from the police when they need it.
Professional Practice of Policing: Tactics
In the past, the LAPD has used a variety of tactics to address the issue of homelessness, including:
- Arrests: The LAPD has arrested homeless people for offenses such as trespassing, public intoxication, and loitering.
- Sweeps: The LAPD has conducted sweeps of homeless encampments, clearing them out and displacing the homeless people who live there.
- Citation programs: The LAPD has implemented citation programs that ticket homeless people for minor offenses, such as sitting on the sidewalk or sleeping in public.
Professional Practice of Policing: Strategy
The tactics that the LAPD has used to address the issue of homelessness illustrate a law enforcement-centered approach to policing. This approach focuses on using the criminal justice system to address social problems, such as homelessness.
However, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that law enforcement-centered approaches to homelessness are not effective. In fact, these approaches can often make the problem worse by criminalizing homelessness and making it more difficult for homeless people to get back on their feet.
Conclusion
Community policing is a valuable approach for addressing the issues surrounding homelessness in LA. Community policing can help to reduce crime, improve the quality of life in the community, and build relationships between the police and homeless people.
The LAPD has begun to adopt some community policing principles in its approach to homelessness. For example, the LAPD has created a Homeless Outreach and Proactive Engagement (HOPE) Team that is tasked with building relationships with homeless people and connecting them with services. However, the LAPD still relies heavily on law enforcement-centered approaches to homelessness.
To be more effective in addressing the issue of homelessness, the LAPD should adopt a more community-centered approach. This approach would focus on working with community members and stakeholders to identify the root causes of homelessness and to develop strategies to address these problems. The LAPD should also work to build relationships with homeless people and to treat them with respect and dignity.